SOCOM Sales Tips » Sales Strategy

Sales People DO NOT Produce revenue

SOCOM Sales — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:32:51 +0000

I had an interesting discussion with a man today that owns his own software and services company. He would fit into that midsize area with only 180 employees. With the revenue that he explained to me that they were pulling in, it was pretty clear that the current economy wasn’t doing to much damage to his business (if he was telling the truth). He said something on the call that got me thinking. He was explaining to me that his large sales team produces the revenue for the company. The field sales and the inside sales groups produce the most money for the business.

I started scratching my head. Do sales people really produce revenue for a business? Well I guess it’s a matter of semantics. I think the customers are the ones producing revenue for a business, not a sales person. It’s the customers wallet the money is coming out of so wouldn’t it make sense?

The point of a sales person either field or inside is to take an opportunity and then move it through the sales cycle. Getting the customer from being interested in a product or service and actually paying for it. Marketing should be targeting new customers with actionable messaging that turns into the opportunity. But it all comes back to the customer being your primary source of revenue.

Do you agree or disagree?

Turn Challenging Questions into Sales

SOCOM Sales — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:23:00 +0000

Make the sales process a collaborative one and you’ll find yourself in the position of trusted advisor instead of just another company trying to make a sale.

One of the most difficult and feared situations in selling is getting hit with hard to answer questions early in the sales process. Questions such as: “Why should I buy from you?” and “What makes your product better than your competitor’s?” For most salespeople these questions are an irresistible invitation for what I refer to as the “Presentation Trap,” an open invitation from the customer to “tell me all about your product.” Most salespeople jump at the opportunity and declare why their company is better than the competition’s and in most cases this wastes time for both the customer and the salesperson.

The exceptional salesperson will turn even the toughest questions into an opportunity to help their customer and themselves more clearly understand the situation and determine if their solution is actually a fit. They recognize the key thought — “Prescription without Diagnosis is malpractice.”

To demonstrate this, think about how a doctor would respond to a question from a patient, before the doctor has completed a diagnosis. The patient asks, “Why should I choose you for my surgery?” The doctor’s response would likely be: “I’m not sure that you should. There are many fine surgeons here at the hospital and at this point I don’t know enough about your condition to recommend surgery or if I would be the right surgeon for the job. Let me ask you this…”

The doctor’s response addressed the question in a very professional manner. It also positioned the doctor to answer the question in a detailed fashion. How can we apply this approach to your customer’s challenging questions? There are three key steps to consider:

Acknowledge that the question is on your mind as well.
Indicate how you intend to answer the question.
Ask the diagnostic question that will begin your clarification.

Here’s how the conversation might proceed:

Customer: “What makes your product better than competitor A or B?”

Salesperson: “They both make a high-quality product and at this point I’m not sure that I understand your situation well enough to be comfortable suggesting which one of us might be the best fit for you. To determine who might be the best fit, let me ask you this, have you noticed…”

We refer to this type of question as an “Indicator Question.” An Indicator question asks the customer if they have observed physical evidence that would tell you your customer’s performance is at risk due to the lack of your solution. An indicator is a physical sign they can observe or experience. It is tangible proof of an existing condition that your solution can address.

Consider a software solution that enables hospitals to improve the accuracy of their requests for government reimbursement. An indicator question could be: “Have you noticed any variance in the way your nurses are coding patient procedures?” The answer typically is “Yes.” The next question is, “Are you seeing more variation in the coding of your inpatient or outpatient procedures?” If they respond with either, the next question is, “Are you seeing the variance in the multi-procedure cases as well?” By now you get the picture; the customer and salesperson are engaged in a conversation that is diagnostic in nature and helps the customer think through what they are experiencing. Notice that we are no longer talking about solutions, we are discussing the customer’s experiences.

The power of this approach, which is the opposite of what the customer would expect, is that it sets you and the customer in agreement and jointly looking for the answer. You will find yourself in a collaborative process with you positioned as the trusted advisor.

At this point you’ve successfully taken a premature question, and built credibility through your response and follow-up diagnosis. From your customer’s perspective, you’re standing out from the crowd and guiding them to a quality decision. What you have achieved is a strong competitive advantage and likely a great sale as a result.

So the next time you feel like jumping into presentation mode, consider one of the key steps taken above. You will build more credibility through the questions you ask than the stories you tell.

Determined to Succeed but Still Failing: Why?

SOCOM Sales — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:22:00 +0000

You’ve probably heard the story of the golfer who steps up to the tee box and hits a wicked duck hook out of bounds.

Embarrassed, he reaches in his pocket, tees up another ball and again, hits another horrific twisting shot left out of bounds. Now angry and determined, he walks back to his bag, gets another ball, tees it up again, and duplicates his first two shots out of bounds to the left. In a fit of frustration, he slams his club into his bag, aggressively flings his club over his shoulders, mumbles some choice expletives to himself as he’s chipping his teeth, and heads up the fairway uncertain as to where he’s going to drop a ball to make his next shot.

I use this as an analogy often in my talks with groups when discussing business professionals who are determined to be successful yet continue to fail. People like:

The determined sales executive who is working extremely hard and is not bringing in the sales and makes the decision to work even harder.

The determined manager who has a tight grip on her team but cannot get them to take their game to the next level, so she implements even more controls.
The determined leader whose company is not reaching their numbers and meets endlessly with his team to discuss solutions, but he keeps asking the same questions over and over again to the same people, never getting any outside opinions.

So, in these examples, what’s missing? You certainly can’t fault their determination, can you? These people possess many characteristics of a determined individual. Their persistence, assertiveness, and even aggressiveness are to be admired, right?

Well, yes and no.

You must be determined to rise to the challenge when faced with adversity, challenges, even hardship. However, determination alone doesn’t solve problems.

In my daily work with others, I encounter many different executives in sales, operations, management, and leadership roles who are very determined people. They are successful on many levels, yet many are also struggling to breakthrough to new levels and have hit a wall in terms of how to get there. Usually it is because the very thing that got them this far, their determination, is missing a key ingredient: the willingness to make intelligent changes along the way.

People who make personal and business related breakthroughs of any significance are first and foremost determined individuals. However, inside their determination is the ability to learn from their actions and constantly change those actions until they reach their desired goal. Trial and error causes them to rethink and retool their strategies. Their determination is fueled by their willingness to make intelligent changes and adjustments along the way.

Top 5 Things You Must Do Today For Breakthrough Achievements Tomorrow and Beyond

1. Write down the goals you want to achieve and list the obstacles or roadblocks that keep you from reaching them. Be thorough.

2. Brainstorm three new ways to get around the roadblocks. Make sure they’re things you’ve never tried before. Run your ideas by someone you have confidence in and see if they can add to or give you any new ideas. Better yet, meet with someone who has achieved the goal you are after. Be open-minded.

3. Turn the three best ideas into actual strategies and prioritize them with the most important coming first. Be bold and take some risks outside of your comfort zone.

4. Put tactics behind those three strategies. Be detailed on the little tasks you have to complete to implement your strategies.

5. Start with your best strategy and implement with pure determination. If that doesn’t work, move on to the second one, and so on. If you’ve exhausted the three best ideas and still have not achieved your goal, make a list of three more ideas and repeat the process. Make intelligent changes.

Successful people have a “crack the code” mentality.

Successful business leader, executives, employees and people in general are forever making changes to their problem solving approaches until their problems are solved. Then, they move on to a new one. Like the golfer used in the example, if your duck hooking the ball off the tee—change your grip, your stance, your back swing, something. Don’t do the same thing harder and expect different results. Fuel your determination with intelligent changes along the way.

By Chuck Mache
Chuck Mache has 25-plus years of experience in selling, managing, building and leading sales organizations regionally and internationally. Get his book, The Four Kinds of Sales People: Your Personal Path to Breakthrough Achievement, at www.chuckmache.com.

Avoid Getting Your E-mails Deleted

SOCOM Sales — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 02:46:00 +0000

Avoid Getting Your E-mails Deleted

From the E-Business Newsletter
It’s easy to fall into bad e-mailing habits because the whole format can begin to feel casual. By now everyone knows to avoid writing in all caps and using emoticons, but people often make the mistake of shooting off overly chummy professional e-mails and forming a devil-may-care disregard for grammar and punctuation. Simple rule of thumb: treat e-mail the same way you’d treat phoning someone. Get to the point, but be polite about it. Here is a look at some of the subtler nuances of the written word to help get your message across with style and grace:

1) Do An Introduction
Launching right into your request is the same as bursting into someone’s office and making demands. “Please send me this report” is a cold opener, and it may lead someone to brush it off until they’re good and ready to help. “Good morning, I hope you had a nice weekend” will ease your reader into a much more cooperative state.

2) Conduct a Read-Through
The software world has yet to invent a “Does This Sound Curt and Snippy?” check. This means your spelling and grammar may be perfect, but your tone may not be. An easy fix is to pretend you’re the receiver and read through the e-mail before sending it. You’ll notice if a phrase rubs you the wrong way or seems surly.

3) Make the Subject Line Short and Snappy
Thinking up a subject line that will pull the receiver in and still fit in a small space is tough work. Don’t make your subject line too vague or your reader may think its spam. Squeeze in too much information, and it will just confuse. Think of it as more of a reminder line, and write something that will help your reader easily pick it out of their inbox.

4) Avoid Long URLS
Ever get an e-mail that has a link to a Web site that goes on for 30 characters and gives no clue where it will take you? Be a better Web guide in your own e-mails by snipping a long URL down to a bite-sized one. Check out SnipURL.com, a free site where you paste in a long URL, give it a nickname, and click a button to generate a short, clear link. Your reader will appreciate it—and maybe even click through.

How to Take the Sales Out of Selling

SOCOM Sales — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:10:00 +0000

It came to me at a peculiar time. I am a sales trainer and I was training sales people. In a moment of uninspired accidental brilliance (that’s an enormous exaggeration) I said something that made all the sense in world, but was completely contradictory in nature.

“My ultimate goal for you,” I said to a roomful of seasoned professional sales people “is to completely remove the concept of ‘selling’ from who you are and what you do.” But wait a minute…..I’m a sales trainer…..a SALES trainer….and these are sales people…….SALES people……..and ALL my clients are SALES people. Was I secretly hoping to put myself out of business? Hardly.

The point is this. The sales process in American business has become painfully stale. It’s wrought with manipulation, misplaced intentions, ego, self indulgence and in some instance, complete fakeness. I certainly don’t mean to offend any professional sales person, but it’s likely time you took a strong, deep OBJECTIVE look at what you do in your role as a professional sales person.

Here’s what I suggest you do about it:

1. Change Your Intent: Completely shift your focus in all sales situation from “getting the deal” to helping the prospective client. Don’t give this lip service. Change what/how you think about the sales process and your role in it. Quit trying to persuade, convince, push, pull and coerce your prospective clients….just focus on making their life better off and let the results just happen.

2. Don’t Think of Yourself as a Salesperson…think of yourself as a BUSINESS PERSON: Lots of sales people will tell you, “I run my territory like it’s my own business.” But do they really? Entrepreneurs tend to think about things very OBJECTIVELY and make decisions using more analysis than emotion. Try to put the same concept into affect for yourself. Be an objective business analyst and you’ll completely change how you sound and appear to prospective clients.

3. Be Yourself: Stop being fake. Stop pretending to be interested in things that you’re not. Just be real. Be yourself. You are likely a very competent, likeable, intelligent person who has a lot of knowledge that others will buy. Just let your ego down and let go of the desire to please them or kiss their ass and just be you.

There you have it.

The Stop Selling Sales Trainer
Bryan Neale

Warming up to cold calls

SOCOM Sales — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:42:00 +0000

Why it’s time to rethink one of the most derided marketing tactics.

Most marketing pros would say that Samantha Ettus is going about it all wrong. That’s because the CEO of Ettus Media Management, a New York City public relations and branding agency, spends a big chunk of her time working the phones, pitching herself and her clients to people she’s never met.

According to the conventional wisdom, that’s a big waste of time. Cold calling, the experts agree, is annoying and irritating, an unwanted imposition on busy people. What’s more, they say, it’s inefficient and doesn’t bring in much business. Far better to work through word of mouth, networking, and established customer contacts. It’s the mantra of selling: Spend time building relationships and the deals will follow.

Ettus begs to differ. She’s been a cold caller ever since she started her business three years ago. Far from being a waste of time, the tactic has helped her six-person firm land some of its biggest clients, including the popular New York City restaurant Ida Mae Kitchen-n-Lounge and the gift and home products catalog Lillian Vernon. Sure, Ettus spends plenty of time networking with current customers and attending events to prospect new ones. But, she says, she wouldn’t be where she is today without cold calling. “So many people give up on cold calling because they say it doesn’t work,” Ettus says. “But it only doesn’t work if you are reaching the wrong person.”

Cold calling may be the sales tactic that gets no respect. But it really can work — if you do it right. At a time when people are bombarded by pitches via e-mail, direct mail, and even instant messaging, a phone call is an extremely personal and effective way of making contact. “You need to develop a system and stick to it,” says Keith Rosen, CEO of Profit Builders, a New York City sales consultancy that specializes in training people in the art of cold calling.

A good first step, Rosen says, is to stop thinking of such calls as “cold” in the first place. “Lukewarm” would probably be a more accurate description. Ettus, for example, does plenty of legwork before reaching for the phone. “I consider it my job to read everything I can and educate myself on the brands that would be right for our firm,” she says. “A bad day for me is one in which I read about an expert or an interesting company that I don’t know about.” Once Ettus has a potential client in her sights, she hunts down all the information she can find — career history, memberships and professional affiliations, any awards the person may have won. As soon as she understands who she’s dealing with, she crafts, but does not send, a personalized e-mail outlining what her firm has to offer. Then she makes the call. She keeps her pitches as brief and precise as possible — generally less than a few minutes. Then immediately upon hanging up, she sends the e-mail. “Within minutes of talking to me, the person gets the e-mail,” Ettus says.

Obviously, it takes a certain amount of guts to do what Ettus does. And not every call is a success. People sometimes hang up on her. But Ettus doesn’t get discouraged. The hang-up is just a sign that she’s reached the wrong person and needs to find an alternative contact — a personal assistant, publicist, parent, or even webmaster (all of whom have helped Ettus connect with an otherwise unreachable prospect).

Fear of rejection is the main reason so many cold callers fail so miserably, says Rosen. A cold call, Rosen argues, is nothing more than a way to introduce yourself and your business to a prospect. Yet even seasoned salespeople are intimidated by the tactic. “You hear things like, ‘I don’t want to say or do the wrong thing. I don’t want to impose. I don’t want to be rejected,’” Rosen says. “The essential theme is ‘I.’ Making the process about yourself is the No. 1 roadblock.” Instead, before picking up the phone, salespeople need to ask themselves, “What value can I deliver to the other person?” Rosen says. (Obviously, if you can’t answer that question, you probably don’t belong in sales in the first place.) You can’t ramble. “You have to be very concise with the language you’re using — there is no time for a second impression,” says Rosen, who has developed a script for his trainees to follow (see “Handholding for Cold Callers”).

During calls, sales reps take notes, looking for anything that can help them refine their pitch.

Still, not everyone is convinced. Anthony Parinello, the bestselling author of Stop Cold Calling Forever, has built a career on the idea that cold calls are a total waste of time — no matter how much research you do. “People are not just sitting around waiting for you to call them,” he says. “They are thinking about other things.” It’s far better, he says, to spend time improving your relationships with current customers, as they’ll likely refer you to others. “My goal is to get my phone to ring as much as I can,” Parinello says. “That means I have to stay off the phone as much as I can.”

But don’t expect Todd Eberhardt, CEO of Comm-works, a Minneapolis-based telecom services firm, to put down his phone. His 85-person company was practically built on cold calling, he says. In 2003, Comm-works got 52 new customers thanks to cold calling; in the first six months of this year, the company added 77 new clients.

Crafting an Opening Sales Statement

SOCOM Sales — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:16:00 +0000

You’ve got just eight short seconds to grab your prospect’s attention and land an executive sales appointment. This sales expert shows you how.

By Tony Parinello

Before you pick up the phone to make a sales call to an executive, I’d like to suggest you remember the following true story:

A few months ago, one of my salespeople, Daniel, had some car problems, so I offered to give him a ride to work. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity to do a little one-on-one role-playing, I suggested we go over some appointment-setting phone skills. I’ve had a long-standing, well-proven statistic that you have just eight seconds to grab an executive’s attention whenever they pick up their phone. Daniel was a bit skeptical about my eight-second standard. He looked at me and said, “Boss, eight seconds is too short a period of time! That’s hardly enough time to take a deep breath, let alone make a meaningful opening statement.”

We happened to be waiting at a red light when he said this. As the light turned green, I kept my foot on the brake and started counting: “One thousand one, one thousand two….” People started honking. By the time I got to “one thousand four,” Daniel was begging me to get moving. By the time we hit the sixth second, the guy behind us was starting to get out of his car, and Daniel was looking for a place under the floorboards to hide. When I finally hit eight, the intersection was a symphony of honking horns, “pointing fingers” and shouting mouths. I hit the gas.

Daniel’s never questioned me again on how long eight seconds really is or whether you can make an impact in that length of time.

If you’ve been reading my columns, you understand what motivates people to buy; you know the relevant specifics about your product, service or solution; and you have a good idea about the strategies at your disposal for contacting people who may give you new business. When you find yourself getting ready to pick up the phone to call an executive, what do you say?

I’m going to assume that your goal for picking up the phone is to develop new business. I’m also going to assume that:

You’ve decided to use the phone to do this, either by means of a follow-up call on a written communication (see my prior article on this topic), or as your first contact with the target business.
Your aim is to get an appointment or create the next step with a top executive who is the person who can actually buy whatever it is you’re selling.

You have three big goals when it comes to developing an opening statement that works. You want to:

Make it sound conversational.
Deliver it with confidence.
Get a favorable interruption–one that will put your prospect in control as soon as possible.

Five Key Opening Statement Components

You’re picking up the phone to call your prospect. For right now, let’s assume you actually do get through to the executive. (You should read last month’s columnto learn exactly how to get past the gatekeepers.) Here are the five key ingredients your opening statement needs to contain:

1. An Introduction. Usually, when an executive (or anyone else) picks up a direct line, they say their name: “This is Jane Smith,” or “Jane Smith speaking.” Your first step will be to repeat this person’s name. Keep things formal for now–use Mr. or Ms., then the contact’s last name.

Prospect: This is Jane Smith.

You: Ms. Smith?

Prospect: Yes.

This first step will earn you Ms. Smith’s undivided attention. Whatever she was doing prior to you saying her name, she’s now stopped doing. She’s paying attention to you, and that’s a good thing!

What most salespeople do now–despite ample and endlessly repeated evidence that they shouldn’t–is say something like this: “Hi, Ms. Smith. This is Will Perish, with the ABC Insurance Company.” Unless your name is, say, James Bond, or your company affiliation is, say, the Prize Disbursement Division of Publishers Clearing House, I can tell you exactly what’s going to happen next in the vast majority of such calls: The prospect will respond to this self-defeating “verbal handshake” by tuning out, asking you to send written information, pretending the building just caught fire, or otherwise disengaging from the call. In other words, you’ll have only been on the line about a second and a half, and you’ll be done.

2. The Pleasantry. Here’s an alternative plan. What I’m about to tell you will contradict what you’ve been taught. Do it anyway.

When Jane Smith says “Yes,” you’re going to respond with something positive and enthusiastic, something that doesn’t directly identify you, your company or the product or service you eventually want to discuss. It’s too early in the relationship for you to pass along that kind of information. Instead, you’re going to use a pleasantry, such as one of these:

“It’s an honor to finally speak with you!”
“Thanks for picking up the phone!”
“Thanks for taking my call.”
“Your time is important. Let me cut to the chase.”

Get the idea? Each and every one of these pleasantries will do a far better job for you than simply volunteering your name and company affiliation at the outset of the conversation. Or saying something totally lame like “How are you today?” or “Do you have a minute?”

3. The Hook. Immediately after your pleasantry, you’re going to catch the person’s attention by using a hook that’s keyed directly to something likely to be of interest to this prospect.

“We’ve helped (three of the top five widget corporations reduce overhead costs by twelve percent this quarter–and they did it without laying off staff or sacrificing product quality).”

Now there’s a tangible benefit if ever there was one! Keep your hook focused and just one or two sentences long, and you can’t go wrong.

The Interruption. More often than not, here’s where you’ll get interrupted if your hook is doing its job. Your prospect is likely to cut in and say something along the lines of one of these statements:

“This sounds interesting–tell me all about it.”
“I haven’t heard of this before, but I must admit it sounds vaguely interesting.”
“I have absolutely no interest.”

(Don’t worry. You’ll be learning how to deal with any not-so-favorable interruptions in next month’s column.)

As I said, you’ll almost certainly get interrupted by this point. For the sake of completeness, though, you need to finish developing your opening statement, so you know what to say in those cases where you don’t get interrupted at this point.

4. Naming Names. Once you’ve shared your hook, the other person knows the reason for your call–the cat’s out of the bag. This is the perfect time to identify yourself and, if you like, your organization. If you choose to identify the name of your business, give it a brief “commercial.” What you say will fit in one sentence. It should sound like this:

“This is Will, Will Prosper, with ABC Insurance Company–the hardest-working company in the insurance industry today.”

5. Your Ending Question. If you don’t get interrupted by this point, you’re going to conclude your opening statement with an ending question that incorporates some element of time. Try one of these:

“Ms. Smith, does this touch on issues that are of concern to you this (month/year/quarter)?”
“Are you wanting to accomplish something like this by the end of this (quarter/year)?”
“Is this something you’d like to explore further?”
“Who on your team would you like for me to continue this conversation with between now and the end of this business (day/week)?”

Putting It All Together

Here’s an example o
f an opening statement that works. Yours shouldn’t sound exactly like this one, but it should be about this long, and it should, like what follows, hit all the bases you’ve been reading about.

Prospect: “This is Jane Smith.”

You: “Ms. Smith?”

Prospect: “Yes….”

You: “(Pleasantry) It was a pleasure to read that your company has successfully expanded into the European marketplace. By the way…(Hook) after studying another client’s operation, we suggested an idea that provided revenue gains of more than $25,000 per year. The real surprise is that we did this without taking one bit of Acme’s hard-earned capital. (Your Name) This is Will Prosper at Zenith. (Ending Question) Acme’s impressive results may be tough to duplicate. But would you be open to taking the next step between now and the first of the year?”

Again, you shouldn’t try simply to insert your company specifics into the script you see above. You should use all the ideas in this article to craft an opening statement that is uniquely yours and that best fits the business you’re pitching.

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/sales/presentations/article78614.html

The Right Voice-Mail Message Will Get You Through

SOCOM Sales — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:43:00 +0000

Today, nobody seems to be around to answer their phones. You spend time cold calling, and all you get are voice-mail messages. You know people don’t bother calling back if they think it’s a sales call.

Because I kept running into this situation, I decided I had to leave a voice-mail message that would encourage prospects to call back. I found the best results came when I called people who are members of identifiable groups like the Chamber of Commerce. I could reference the group and gain some legitimacy for my call. My message goes something like this:

“I was looking at the Chamber membership list and saw your company’s listing, and I was wondering exactly what your company does. Please give me a call back.”

Most prospects can’t resist this opportunity to talk about their favorite thing–their company–so they call me back. Now I’ve made contact, and my next task is to build rapport. I ask several questions about their company,what they do and how they do it. I never start talking about my company’s products and services unless they ask. I keep the focus on the prospects. By the end of the conversation, one of three things has happened:

I’ve established enough rapport so I can call these prospects back and be reasonably certain they will take my call.
The prospects express interest in my products and services, and I may be able to sell them something right away.
The prospects give me a referral.

From: SalesDoctors Magazine | January 1999

The Importance of Individual Sales Goals

SOCOM Sales — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:32:00 +0000

Achieving sales volume goals for your business is one of the biggest challenges any owner faces. Many factors beyond your control can affect that final number–the economy, the weather, the competition. But one manageable factor is the people in direct contact with your clients–your sales team.

Some business owners ask every person on the team to meet the same sales goals. That’s the easiest thing for a busy entrepreneur to do. But not everyone is capable of achieving at the same level. Some salespeople are better with a certain product; others work best with a certain type of client. You just can’t get away from these complicated variables.

Since your business is so powerfully impacted by these variables, you should master the art of flexibility. Smart business owners work with each person on their staff to discuss what’s expected of them to keep the business growing. Each person must be evaluated based on his or her skills, knowledge and interests.

It’s wise to set an overall company goal so you all know what you’re trying to achieve. It’s also a good practice to step back every now and then to look at the big picture of your business as it relates to that goal and look for things you can do to reach the goal. It’s also critical to let your sales personnel in on your company goal so they can understand where they fit into your plans.

Your salespeople are crucial to growing your business, and to get the results you want, you should meet with them eyeball-to-eyeball (or, at the very least, in a phone meeting) once a month. This should only take five to 10 minutes per person per month, and the results you’ll see will be worth the effort.

Begin your monthly meetings by thanking your team members for their service to the business. Review how they did with their sales last month, and ask them if they’re pleased with their numbers. Then ask what they might do differently if they had an opportunity to go back 30 days and relive that month over again. Often, both you and your salespeople will be surprised by some of the creative answers they come up with. Use that information to move forward in setting some new goals.

Let your salespeople be in control of their goals by asking what their income goal is for the next six months. Then break that figure down into monthly goals. Ask if that monthly amount seems reasonable to them. When they confirm that it does, show them how many sales they must generate to achieve that goal. Again, have them commit to their belief in that goal being achievable.

To finish up, talk about special offers or promotions that you’re implementing so your salespeople can work them into their sales plans. Always end these planning meetings by asking what you could provide your salespeople along the lines of product knowledge or selling skills education to help them continue to grow and achieve their goals with your business.

This type of personal involvement in setting achievable goals for your salespeople always works in your favor. You’ll get to know what they believe they can do. They’ll get to know what you hope they’ll achieve. And best of all, when they know you care enough to help them set individual, personalized goals, they’ll do their best to outperform your expectations.

Be CRM Savvy

SOCOM Sales — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:05:00 +0000

Missing the target with your customer relationship management strategy? Follow these five steps to success

By Julia Chang

In his work in CRM consulting, Yacov Wrocherinsky has seen some disasters. One of the most recent was a large manufacturing company that spent millions on a high-end CRM system, only to realize two years later that it wasn’t providing accurate forecasts. “In the old days, people used to select a system based on a decision by the higher-ups, invest millions, and if the project didn’t meet expectations, they would write it off,” says Wrocherinsky, founder and CEO of Infinity Info Systems, a New York–based sales technology consulting firm. “Today, expectations are different.”

That’s because companies now are much smarter about CRM. They want faster implementation that produces value more quickly. And vendors have done a good job of mastering the basic features and making their offerings available at price points for companies of all sizes. But that doesn’t make the process of implementing a CRM strategy any easier—especially since CRM is now expected to be part of broader business strategy.

One thing’s for sure: CRM is at the top of managers’ minds. In a survey of S&MM readers conducted by consulting firm The Alexander Group, 35 percent of sales leaders say they will work to improve CRM in 2007, making it the third most important operational priority for the new year. Not sure if you’re going about it the right way? Follow these five steps to make your CRM strategy stays on point:

1. Set Clear Business Goals
By far, the biggest mistake companies make when it comes to CRM implementation is “not thinking through what customer-facing business outcomes they want to achieve,” says William Band, principal analyst for IT research firm Forrester Research, based in Cambridge, Mass. “You don’t want to start using the technology without thinking about if you want to improve your cross-sell, up-sell, or call-center [capabilities]. You have to think through what business metrics you are trying to improve.” Otherwise, how else will you measure success?

When Toshiba America Medical Systems (TAMS), a diagnostic imaging company based in Tustin, Calif., began a new CRM strategy, it first identified its business need: How to overcome flat growth. In the late 1990s, TAMS was losing customers as fast as it was gaining them, while the industry as a whole was growing about 10 percent.

After extensive customer surveys, TAMS realized the problem lay in its support and service. “We just didn’t have a good understanding of what customers really valued and what they wanted us to do,” says Cathy Wolfe, director of marketing services.

In order to improve service, the CRM system had to let reps know when a service problem was rearing so they could nip it in the bud. Now, TAMS surveys customers at the start and midway through their relationship with the company. The results are fed into a database managed by its Cognos CRM system, which uses the data to send e-mail alerts through Lotus Notes to managers when a customer is showing signs of dissatisfaction. “It’s an early warning indicator,” Wolfe says. “If you don’t know about it, then you don’t have the chance to address it. [Otherwise] you could have a customer mad for a period of time, bad-mouthing you, and you’d never know it.”

The result of the CRM implementation? Since 2001, the company has enjoyed about a 25 percent year-over-year growth rate and has seen its name rise to the top in several independent customer-service rankings.

2. Assemble a Crack Team
If it involves the customer, it doesn’t involve just sales—marketing, customer service, the call center, accounting and even back-office operations merit consideration when forming CRM strategy. Although the stakeholders can vary by company, most experts suggest representatives for Team CRM come from the following: sales, to provide end-user input; marketing; IT; an executive who can translate the CRM to bigger business strategy; accounting or finance; and dedicated administrative or sales support, if any.

It also helps, Wrocherinsky says, if the group includes a champion who has the respect of his peers and can spread the CRM gospel. It can be someone who is tech-savvy, but it can also be a “difficult or skeptical candidate,” he says, “who once you convert, helps other people see the light.”

Picking the right people as part of the team is essential, since these folks will be responsible for making sure budget, timing, and cost expectations are realistic, and will spend the most time with the vendors in the setup process. And make sure someone on the team has some decision-making authority, or the project could get stonewalled or mired in bureaucracy.

3. Do an IT Audit
For Bob Ritter, there’s one simple rule to the tech side of implementing CRM software: Meet or exceed the requirements. The CRM vendor will tell you what the parameters are for the operating system, network, hardware, software, infrastructure, etc., but there are other hidden IT roadblocks. “Maybe someone hasn’t rebooted their workstation in six weeks and their resources are a mess, or the drive is up to the gills with garbage from the Internet,” says Bob Ritter, president of 1stdirect.com, a CRM reseller and consulting firm in East Fishkill, N.Y. “When you’re putting a mission-critical application out to everybody, you have to make sure the foundation of the infrastructure it is running on is healthy.”

When it comes to choosing the actual software, there’s always a basic checklist to mind, before you even get to customization. Is the software easy to use? Will it link to mission-critical applications, such as e-mail, back-office functions or accounting software? (This is especially important to consider with hosted CRM.) Is it scalable? Make sure your cost analysis includes such areas as licensing, maintenance, configuration, training and data migration, Ritter says. And it doesn’t hurt to do a little detective work on your vendor’s business model, because you want to make sure it’ll be around for the long haul.

When it comes to security, the biggest concern used to be whether hosted software was vulnerable to hackers. Since that fear has largely been assuaged, the security concern these days is securing data on the road, says Richard Smith, vice president of CRM strategy for Green Beacon Solutions, a CRM consulting firm for mid-market companies based in Watertown, Mass. Part of CRM’s value is the convenience it provides when integrated into mobile devices. But laptops and BlackBerrys get stolen and lost, so the cost of securing data on the road should figure into your tech investment.

4. Fine-Tune the Features
Determining exactly what features should figure into your software will probably be the hardest and longest part of implementation, but one of the good things about this step is that it forces a compan
y to face how it does business and uncovers needed changes. “It’s an excellent time to revisit the business process,” Ritter says. “Are there ways to break up your data more efficiently? Are territories properly balanced? What communications do you want to merge or manage? Are you trying to fulfill a virtual request more efficiently?”

Running a pilot project helps avoid future pitfalls. When Johnson Controls, an environmental controls company based in Milwaukee, acquired HVAC supplier York International in 2005, one of its first priorities was integrating the new company into its Saratoga CRM system, which is used by about 2,200 employees. York’s service organization was integrated relatively easily; it was mostly a matter of eliminating duplicate accounts, merging databases and training the York service folks.

But York’s systems installation unit was another story. “Their business was different enough from our installation business that we didn’t believe the same CRM screens and business flow could work for them,” says Bill Hable, director of market planning, research and systems for Johnson Controls. “They are different in how they go to market, who their primary contact is, and they go through different routes [to prospect].” A CRM pilot ran in the spring in three district offices so they could tweak the views and fields that this particular unit needed. The new system is set to roll out the first six months of this year. “I didn’t want to hear first impressions,” Hable says. “They used it for three or four months so we could get a good idea about how they do business and what had to be changed.”

Large companies often require a lot of CRM customization, but even small firms should tweak solutions to their needs. Donna Keller, senior vice president for Financial Advisory Consultants, based in Naples, Fla., worked with 1stdirect.com to install GoldMine CRM software. Keller says she tried out about six versions before finalizing the solution that her company will roll out early this year. Keller’s firm has about 10 employees, but nonetheless needed a more uniform process to qualify prospects, move them through the sales cycle, and communicate with them the way they preferred. “Our [old CRM system] did it in a more manual way, but I was looking for something more automated so each client got the exact same experience,” Keller says. “There are a lot of moving parts that go into the process, and we needed to be able to handle all the intricacies.”

5. Encourage—or Enforce—Usage
Now that you’ve laid out your business goals, picked internal champions and designed the software of your dreams, here comes the hard part: Getting your staffers to use the system. Managers can take a carrot or a stick approach, Smith says, but the key is “reinforcing that there is one version of the truth: The report that gets driven out of CRM. If managers start letting the best sales reps submit numbers in Excel, it breaks the model.”

The carrot approach is to show salespeople the value of using a system, and your CRM evangelists are essential to this. Sometimes this takes more patient training or one-on-one coaching to prove the system’s benefits to your reps. But don’t be afraid to enforce a hard deadline by which data must be in, call out folks who aren’t following the rules and recognize big wins that get plugged into the system. “People don’t want to be shamed, and if they know they’ve closed a big deal and the forecast always goes out noon on Friday” they’ll be more inclined to become CRM converts, Smith says.

And then there’s always the biggest stick: No CRM use, no commission. “Everybody suddenly gets clear on things when there is only one way to get data into the accounting system,” Hable says. “I’ve seen guys who hate computers, but if [using CRM software] is how they get their commission check, they are experts in two weeks.”

Sidebar: What Customers Want

According to the Forrester Research survey “How to Select a CRM Software Vendor” of 19 large North American and European organizations, the following CRM software criteria are considered the most important:

1. Companies expect CRM software to make its users more productive. High usability encourages adoption.

2. Analytics tools are needed to better understand customer behavior and inform decisions based on customer data.

3. The ability to support a centralized customer master data management system is critical to getting a 360-degree view of the customer.

4. Many companies reported they had started working to improve their contact center, but then moved on to focus on sales and marketing. They have stated that “CRM is never done,” and work continuously on ways to improve customer interactions.

5. Companies wanted software with applications that encourage strong and flexible workflow capabilities.

6. Technologies that can be easily adapted and customized to the business environment achieve results more quickly.

7. Any software must accommodate large numbers of users and support global business.

8. Vendors without industry-relevant capabilities likely won’t make it to many companies’ shortlists for consideration.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Sales Processes

SOCOM Sales — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:58:00 +0000

There are quite a few pieces to the sales performance improvement puzzle - face-to-face selling skills, management style, coaching, account strategy, and so on. One piece that doesn’t get much attention is the sales process. The simplest definition of “sales process” is “a linked group of tasks that together create customer value.”

by Maxey

Some sales processes are more effective than others. In his book, Rethinking the Sales Force, Huthwaite founder Neil Rackham asks seven questions that can help you evaluate your organization’s sales process:

1.	Does your sales process reflect your customers’ acquisition process? If it doesn’t, it’s working against you.
2.	Is your process self-correcting? Good sales process learns from real-world feedback.
3.	Does your process create value? Good sales process adds value for the customers, for the sales organization, and for the salespeople themselves.
4.	Does your process increase efficiency? If your process has made your selling cycle longer, it’s time for a redesign.
5.	Does your process allow mortals to succeed? Nevermind the top performers - a good process should allow average salespeople to get better results.
6.	Is your process scaleable? The test is whether your sales process is a growth enabler or a growth inhibitor.
7.	Are your milestones objectively measurable events? Good process is based on events, not on activities.

Eight Basic Selling Steps

SOCOM Sales — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:45:00 +0000

Whether you sell face-to-face, by telephone, or in combination, there are eight basic steps in the process. By Helen Berman. Before the sales call, you will want to do your homework: review the account history, their market niche, sales and marketing goals, your current sales position and best initial strategy.

by Dan & Erin Sweeney

If you choose not to use each of the eight steps in a single sales call: you might break the stages of the sale into more than one call. For a new prospect, the opening and statement of opening benefits may be a part of your initial phone conversation to set up an appointment. Be sure when you need several sales calls, review covered material each time you call. Your prospect may not remember every salient point.

You should deviate from the basic rules when it serves you. If your prospect is ready to buy at the beginning of the call - CLOSE THE SALE. Many salespeople miss the buying signals or feel obligated to “give them a pitch.” Missing your prospect’s pitch is an easy way to strike out.

1. Opening:

While stating your name and purpose may sound simple enough, the first few seconds of the call are critical. First impressions do count. Present yourself as confident, professional and personable. You may not get a second chance. Most prospects decide in the first 15-30 seconds whether to give you any attention, move into resistance or give you the brush off.

2. Opening Statement of Benefits:

To gain your prospect’s immediate attention, you must quickly answer his unspoken question, “What’s in it for me?” Give your prospect an attention grabbing advantage you can offer his company. Write out several versions that work for you in different circumstances. Then practice your delivery.

Sell the prospect on actively engaging in the sales call or to consent to a personal interview. Your prospect wants to know at once the purpose of your call. If you beat around the bush, you lose credibility. Many salespeople err by mistaking the opening benefit statement for the presentation. Many salespeople begin by bombarding a prospect with a series of product features. They believe that if they speak fast enough, not daring even to take a breath, they might be able to make the sale immediately.

3. Qualification and Fact-finding:

By asking questions, you can quickly determine if the prospect is a qualified buyer. Rapport is most easily built during this stage of the sale. Make hefty deposits into the emotional bank which you may need to draw upon when answering objections. By asking strategic questions and uncovering his needs, you can prepare him emotionally and intellectually for the presentation.

The more your prospect begins to formulate and voice his own ideas that will support your presentation later, the more powerful a mark your presentation will make.

4. Agreement on Needs:

Once you and your prospect have discussed his needs, summarize the conversation by listing them. Get any further clarification and agreement about their priority. I find lists of three to be easiest to work with. Be sure the list you create together emphasizes needs your product can meet. You have created the cornerstone of the presentation.

Explain how your product can help meet specific needs. You have created a home base, a safe space. If you lose control of the sale, return to agreement on needs. It provides a transition, signaling your client that you are proceeding to the next stage of the sale.

5. Presentation:

Here’s where effective salespeople play their “trump card”. Based on understanding his needs, you save your most powerful point - the clincher - for now. This is your opportunity to tie your product’s features and corresponding benefits to your prospect’s specific needs. Make the cogs of the machine mesh. Reinforce whenever possible the relationship between your product and meeting the prospect’s goals.

As you continue the presentation, refrain from a dog and pony monologue whenever possible. Keep your prospect involved or risk losing him.

6. Agreement:

Get the prospect’s agreement that the product’s features and benefits do meet his needs. He will often have concerns which you need to address. Continue the consultative relationship. Avoid the trap of becoming an adversary.

7. Commitment:

While there are many techniques of sales closing, the close should be a natural outcome of the first six steps. Unfortunately, some salespeople are afraid to ask for the order. As a wise man once said, “You don’t ask, you don’t get.” Get your prospect to agree to specifics. If that isn’t possible, get a commitment on something, even just another appointment.

8. Follow-through:

Establish the next action, clarify any procedures, and let the prospect know what to expect. Thank your client for his business and reassure him that he made a sound business investment. Buyer’s remorse has resulted in many a cancelled contract. Do what you can to reinforce the sale and your on going relationship.